US, Senegal and partner nations conduct medical readiness exercise during African Lion 2026

ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal - Medical personnel from Austria and Italy will join Senegal and U.S. military medical personnel to conduct a multinational medical readiness exercise in southern Senegal as part of African Lion 2026, strengthening partnerships and improving readiness to deliver care in operational environments.

The exercise, held from April 25 to May 8, gathers U.S. Army medical professionals from the Vermont National Guard, Senegalese Armed Forces healthcare providers, and allied medical teams from Austria and Italy.

Training takes place at multiple medical facilities across the region. Working side by side, participating forces are exchanging expertise and refining their ability to provide effective care in complex environments.

Led by the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the MEDREX prepares military medical personnel to operate outside traditional clinical settings while strengthening multinational interoperability.

The training focuses on critical wartime medical skills, including point-of-injury care, blast and trauma management, surgical treatment and patient recovery through rehabilitation. These activities enhance both individual proficiency and unit readiness across participating forces.

"MEDREX allows our medical professionals to train in realistic environments while learning directly from our Senegalese and multinational partners," said U.S. Army Col. Scot Tebo, command surgeon for SETAF-AF. "This collaboration improves how we deliver care in austere conditions and strengthens our collective ability to support forces during complex operations."

The exercise reinforces enduring partnerships among participating nations and builds the trust and coordination needed to respond to shared security challenges.

About African Lion

African Lion 2026 is U.S. Africa Command's largest annual joint exercise, designed to strengthen collective security capabilities of the U.S., African nations and global allies. Co-led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) from April 20 to May 8, 2026, and hosted in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, AL26 involves over 5,600 personnel from more than 40 nations, using innovation to drive partner-led regional security.

African Lion content can be found on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).

For media inquiries or to request interviews, contact SETAF-AF Public Affairs at [email protected].

About SETAF-AF

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.

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